Johanne Defay (FRA), Sage Erickson (USA), Malia Manuel (HAW) and Coco Ho (HAW) have each secured their place in the Quarterfinals following the conclusion of the fourth round.

Defay took on Laura Enever (AUS) in the opening heat of Round 4. The pair traded small scores until Defay moved down the beach and locked in a 7.33 for two good turns. Defay backed it up with a 5.50 to secure her place in the Quarterfinals, where she will match up against Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW). Enever leaves in Equal 9th place.

“I tried to surf a little bit every day and keep active during the lay days with some training,” Defay said. “But I have some family here with me so I’ve enjoyed spending time with them too and tried to stay excited for the next heat. ”

Erickson and Alessa Quizon (HAW) matched up in Round 4 Heat 2 and it was the American that dominated from the start. Quizon was left searching for an 8-point ride and is eliminated in Equal 9th place. Erickson moves on the Quarterfinals where she will face Tyler Wright (AUS), who is on the hunt to claim her maiden WSL Title.

“There are so many peaks and corners here at Guincho so I was trying to pick apart where my best scoring potential was, and it was a little bit surprising that Alessa chose a different peak at first,” Erickson said. “I was a bit confused when she joined me at the end of the heat cause I had priority. I just stuck to my plan and luckily it worked out in that one. I’m enjoying competing this year, I’ve really learnt how to focus better and I’m enjoying everything that traveling brings.”

Malia Manuel (HAW) opened with a bang in Round 4 Heat 3, posting an excellent 8.33 on her first wave. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) tried to search for opportunities but couldn’t find anything over a 4.33. Manuel backed up her opening ride with a 7.00 for a significant lead. Fitzgibbons tried to fight back on her backhand but it wasn’t enough and she leaves the competition in Equal 9th place. Manuel moves on the Quarterfinals, taking her first ever win over Fitzgibbons in a head-to-head CT match-up.

“I think every surfer would want to start a heat like that,” Manuel said. “Thankfully the wave came to me and I was in the right spot. It was pretty tricky out there -- there’s a lot of rip going on but I love this windswell so I’m happy to be getting a couple of good ones. The Quarterfinal against Courtney (Conlogue) will be a good one so I hope we get some good waves.”

The final heat of Round 4 saw Ho and Lakey Peterson (USA) battle for the remaining spot in the Quarterfinals of the Cascais Women’s Pro. The Hawaiian got to work first and it was a heat-high 5.33 on her second wave that secured her victory and her first Quarterfinal berth of the season. Ho will face reigning three-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore (HAW) when competition continues.

“We did get a little lost towards the end of the heat and it was tricky so we made a few mistakes,” Ho said. “It’s going to be tough in the Quarterfinals against Carissa (Moore) because she’s definitely always on. We’ve had a really fun heat today so hopefully we’ll get to do that again.”

Earlier this morning and then following the four women’s heats, competitors in the men’s QS10,000 division took it to the lineup in their second round to whittle the field down in fun conditions.

Ian Gouveia (BRA), 23, continued his amazing rise to the forefront of the qualifying race for the 2017 Men’s Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour, as the Brazilian destroyed two successive waves on his backhand to quickly put his three opponents in a combination situation. Coming off two finals in the recent QS6,000 events, Gouveia is on an absolute tear through the European leg and continued to demonstrate his superiority on all the waves he selected today at Guincho.

“I’m feeling great, I’ve been surfing this right the whole week and even though I saw everyone surfing in the middle and that left in the current I knew that right had some good potential and I stuck to my gameplan,” Gouveia stated. “I didn’t know any of the scores I got right until I came in and talked with my coach, he told I had those three 8s and I’m stoked with the win.”

Jesse Mendes (BRA), 23, delivered the men’s event main upset today in eliminating local favorite Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) in their Round Two bout. Despite a slow start in a heat dominated by Spaniard Vicente Romero, Mendes managed to come back and drop two good scores on his final two attempts to completely reverse the situation as compatriot Alejo Muniz (BRA) squeezed into second position to edge out the two Europeans.

“Waves are pretty fun this morning but it’s tricky to surf that very first heat of the day, we’ve been off for a couple of days and nobody knows how the judging is going to be,” Mendes stated. “The sun came up right as the heat started and we couldn’t see the priority panels, it was basically a freesurf, everyone looking around trying to guess the priorities. I tend to get too excited if I sit there and wait so I stayed busy catching waves to get into rhythm.”

Coming off two good ninth place results in the Azores and on home soil in Morocco, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), 23, put on a convincing performance to make his way into Round Three of the Billabong Pro Cascais pres. by Allianz. The talented goofy foot found clean waves offering multiple sections to showcase his aggressive backhand and clinching an impressive 8.77 out of 10.

Rookie Ryan Callinan (AUS), 24, currently sitting 36th on the Samsung Galaxy Men’s Championship Tour, opened his Cascais campaign much like Boukhiam, with a vertical attack on the long rights of Guincho to score an excellent 8.67 and take an early lead on Heat 10. Callinan found an average wave by the end of the 30-minute heat to definitely secure the win and eliminate an unusually out-of-rhythm Ethan Ewing (AUS) in the process.

“I got that really good one at the start but it’s pretty bumpy out there and I felt like I put heaps of pressure on myself to try to back it up,” Callinan reflected. “I knew I only needed a small backup and down the beach it seemed easier. I’m really enjoying my year, even though the CT hasn’t been going exactly as planned, at least the QS is going quite good and I’m having heaps of fun.”

“I think the way I am approaching competing is a full roll-over but it’s so different on the QS, I was so decided to go prove it against those guys and excited to go out there,” Tanner reflected. “We’ve been trying to find rhythms and patterns to the days and we came a couple days early with my brother, staying here in Guincho. It’s been fun to start the days with a surf and coming back the next day to something familiar, and it definitely helped in that heat. I felt the tide switch in the middle of the heat and the rip just went crazy so I had to switch and look for a different kind of wave. I’m stoked that preparation paid off."

Event organizers will reconvene 7:30 a.m. local time tomorrow morning to make the next call.